Our next reviewer has participated 2 times in Söngvakeppnin (the Icelandic NF) and both times she had fantastic songs and that is the reason why I wanted to know her thoughts on some of these songs.
HILDUR, I CAN'T WAIT TO KNOW WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THESE 2020 NF SONGS
KaYra - Alligator
I think the melody is catchy but the lyrics are kind of confusing; I don’t really get them with first listen and I think the production is not really my cup of tea.
Anett x Fredi - Write about me
I like the vocal production, low key production but good feeling in the song. It’s missing a strong chorus I think.
Erika Vikman - Cicciolina
Not my cup of tea at all. I feel like it sounds very old production wise, like a bad re-do of an Abba song.
Barbara Tinoco - Passe-Partout
Interesting instruments used but the song didn’t really get me and I would probably never listen to it.
Didirri - Raw stuff
Absolutely love his voice. I think this song is beautiful, the concept is good, production is simple but effective and goes well with his voice and melody.
Eden Alene - Roots
I really don’t like the production or lyrics. The instrumental is all over the place - maybe that’s supposed to go with the idea of the song but I just really don’t like it and think it sounds like 2 very different songs.
Pinguini Tattici Nucleari - Ringo Starr
Didn’t catch me. The melody is a little bit too busy and then the synth sound in the chorus is not cool in my opinion.
Dotter - Bulletproof
Very catchy and good popsong. Reminds me of Sia. She also has an interesting voice. Wouldn’t really play it at home but still I think it’s one of the best ones.
Rancore - Eden
I was very surprise when he started rapping! This song is of course hard to vibe along with as its’ not in English and I feel like in rap songs it’s harder to vibe with them if you don’t get the lyrics at all. Even if I’d read a translation of the lyrics I don’t really connect with the song.
Levante - Tikibombom
I love her voice. The song is very dramatic and nice. I like the emotion and melody - and the tikibombom reminds me a little bit of Bammbaramm actually!
I'm sure you all remember Laila from her brilliant MGP 2016 entry "Afterglow" but the reason I thought of her for this new thing I'm doing is because she was one of the songwriters of "Jealous cause I love you", one of my favorite 2010 NF songs, so I sent her a DM and she kindly accepted doing this review thing.
LAILA, I CAN'T WAIT TO KNOW WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THESE 2020 NF SONGS!
KaYra - Alligator
This song is a bit on the cliché side for me, and is lacking originality and something real. Fun and colourful video is the upside.
Anett x Fredi - Write about me
I like the emotional character and soulful melodies in this song. It sounds sincere and it’s beautiful.
Erika Vikman - Cicciolina
This one has a catchy melody, gives me Abba feels. I am not really getting drawn into this as it’s in finnish, and I feel like I heard the melodies before. Not bad though.
Barbara Tinoco - Passe-Partout
Beautifully naive song with real old school vibes. Feel like I am in a French romantic comedy movie from the 50’s. Sweet.
Didirri - Raw stuff
I like this one. Nice melodies, downplayed, gives authentic vibes and a sore sense. He has a great voice for acoustic music.
Eden Alene - Roots
This song is such a mash up of vibes, the chorus is my favourite part. Plus for originality.
Pinguini Tattici Nucleari - Ringo Starr
Not catching me so much, it’s a bit silly but I don’t think the joke is funny. Well produced, though.
Dotter - Bulletproof
Generously “borrowing” from both Aviici and Sia. Lacking originality.
Rancore - Eden
Great feeling, thoughtful lyrics, this artist has a message, whether you agree with it or not, it’s a good song.
Levante - Tikibombom
I like this one a lot. Cool voice. This is a song one can listen to without understanding the lyrics, too. Nicely done
The first interview of the year is coming from Estonia. "Write about me" was the song I liked the most once I heard all the EL 2020 entries, not only because of its lyrics and production but because of how the instruments and Anett's voice play with the song's mood. To learn more about half of this act, here are Fredi's answers:
Name: Frederik Küüts
Birthday: 28/04/1999
Height: 175cm
Favorite color: black
Favorite food: pasta
What’s your strangest talent? I don’t know if I have one
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? An African mask
What are you really good at? Driving
What are you really bad at? Lying
Childhood idol: Freddie Mercury
Childhood memory: Everything to do with my family
Celebrity crush: Keira Knightley
Tell me something no one knows about you: I’m really into ASMR
Who would you cast to play you in a movie about your life? Jake Gyllenhaal
What would the title of that movie be? “?”
Favorite movie: Joker
Favorite TV series: Friends
Dish/Snack/Beverage we should try if we ever visit Estonia: Kohuke
What is your guilty pleasure? ASMR
If you were a girl for a day, what would you do? Probably touch my boobs a lot.
Can you recommend us a song (old or new) from an Estonian artist? Vaiko Eplik - Mõtetes Mõrudais
Can you teach me some interesting words in Estonian? Kuulilennuteetunneliluuk is an actual word in Estonian. It’s the same word when read backwards.
Hello Fredi! Welcome to the Eurovision world!
How would you describe yourself as an artist? - Pretty hectic I guess. I’m still searching for my thing. I’m really into hip-hop and RnB tho.
You are one of the participants of Eesti Laul 2020. How did it all begin? - We just wrote a song with Anett and by the time we finished Anett suggested we applied for Eesti Laul. I didn’t think it would go through but it was worth giving a shot.
“Write about me” is the title of your song, what’s the story behind it? - I started writing songs from a pretty early age and at some point it was a really natural thing for me, to write songs about things and people who made me feel some kind of way. That was just my way of getting things off my chest. I was just wondering if everybody could write songs - what would they write about. And adding that romantic touch to it, as I tend to do, lead me to the main lyric. That was pretty much the only thing we had in the beginning, Anett really loved the idea and we started writing from there. Everything else just came into place - when Anett suggested that we’d change the choruses a bit every time, to make it into sort of timeline, that was when everything got really easy. The song is kind of self-explanatory: one side of the relationship is willing to give more than the other and overtime they start to grow apart. We’re both super happy about how it turned out!
Tell us about the process of creating and producing the song? - I was having bit of a tough time writing-wise this past summer and I just remembered how many of the co-writing sessions had been uplifting in that sense. So I arranged some sessions with artists that I had wanted to work with for a long time. Anett agreed to come by my place and we listened to some demos. I had this guitar part down and she really liked it so we worked our way up from there together. By the time the song was written I asked my friend Mairo Marjamaa to write a brass-part and after recording all the instruments in different studios it only came down to finishing touches. My friend Ago Teppand helped me a lot at that time, so a big shoutout to him!
What can we expect to see on stage for the performance? (Will you be there with Anett?) - We’ll both be up on the stage. We will try to keep it really classy and minimal. No fancy fireworks from us!
Have you heard any of the other songs in the competition? Any favorite? - As for the other Eurovision songs, then no. I have a lot of friends competing at Eesti Laul this year and all of them have great songs. Some of them I like more than others but I don’t really like picking favourites.
What do you like about Eurovision? - I like the platform that it gives aspiring artist.
What do you dislike about Eurovision? - That instrumentalists and producers don’t get enough credit.
Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word:
Support: friends
Birds: flying
Reality: sad
Messy: thoughts
Guitar: home
What are your plans for 2020? - Performing, producing and traveling.
Is there anything you want to say to close the interview? - I’d really appreciate if you’d go and listen to our song! Anett x Fredi - Write About Me
